If you’re getting killed instantly in Battlefield 6, it might not be because the game is designed to have a fast time to kill or because a pesky sniper has your number. Despite only being available via an open beta, Battlefield 6 is already getting infiltrated by cheaters armed with hacks that give them the upper hand. And since the game has cross-play enabled by default, this means that cheating is a nuisance for everyone, not just people playing on PC.
Word of Battlefield 6 cheats initially spread via a viral video that’s been viewed over 7 million times on social media. In it, a player can be seen running along a map as the game points out friends and foes alike, even if they aren’t immediately in front of the player. Friendlies are encased in blue cubes, while rivals show up within purple cubes. Helpfully, the cheat also tells the player exactly where enemy vehicles are through orange cubes.
The good news is that Battlefield 6 developer DICE is already aware of the issue, and says it has banned the player in the video. But the existence of cheats comes somewhat as a surprise to players, as the beta hasn’t been live for very long. EA also tried rolling out its anti-cheat system called Javelin, which is intended to “detect and remove bad actors.” You can’t participate in the beta without enabling Secure Boot on PC, which requires some deep tinkering with PC settings via the system’s BIOS. Some PC gamers are well-versed in wrestling against esoteric menus and options to get their favorite games running, but the reality is that computer literacy rates have been dropping for years. Only around 34% of middle school students are capable of performing “basic” computer tasks, according to one 2024 study. EA did provide basic instructions on getting Secure Boot running, but even so, its security measures have been a controversial proposal for some, as enabling systems like that often means handing over a lot of control over your PC, theoretically speaking.
Regardless, it seems that Javelin wasn’t enough to stop cheaters from entering the game. Websites selling Battlefield 6 cheats boast about all sorts of abilities available for download. These include aimbots that allow users to target enemies without input, wallhacks that tell cheaters information like enemy health and the weapons they have equipped, faster movement, and the ability to reduce balancing measures like bullet recoil and spread. These cheats also have the option to function in ways meant to trick the game into believing a human is playing, like making lock-on hacks transpire at a natural pace instead of locking on immediately. Players are already squinting at absurd lobby statistics when they come across a player with dozens more kills than most of the lobby.
In response to some of the outcry around cheaters, EA clarified that Secure Boot is not meant to be a “silver bullet” that completely eradicates cheaters. Rather, it’s “another barrier that helps us make it harder for cheat developers to create cheat programs, and makes it easier for us to detect it when they do.” Since cheating methods are constantly evolving, any system designed to stop hacks won’t capture everything right away. Sure enough, this is something that cheat-makers tout on websites selling their wares.
“You’re not just buying a cheat,” one website declares. “You’re getting ongoing support, consistent updates, and a commitment to long-term usability.”
In a forum post, EA says Javelin has stopped around 330,000 attempts to cheat in the beta, and that players have reported around 100,000 possible cheaters. “We are already using these with our own Gameplay Integrity team to add and improve our detections for Battlefield 6,” the post reads. “They are also working with the Battlefield Positive Play team, to actively remove those reported we confirm to be cheaters.”
Don’t be too quick to blame cheaters, though. Remember, Battlefield 6 has an option that allows players to flick around 180 degrees nearly instantly, depending on their reflexes. You might not have to guess, though — at least some people will readily admit to being cheaters. “Dude was openly saying he had hacks and he was LvL1,” reads a Reddit post depicting a player with a kill/death ratio of 74 to 3.
Battlefield 6 is out Oct. 10 on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X, so hopefully DICE and EA can iron out these problems in the meantime.
